Verhaal van Vasco
Hound
and the City
Since we
live in our country’s capitol, it’s a big city with all its usual
city-stuff. Cars, people on bikes (this is Holland, after all, with 16 million
people and 20 million bikes), people walking, public transportation, shops,
tourists, you name it, we’ve got it. So when we decided to adopt a greyhound,
we knew we would be expecting a lot of him/her. A lot of adjustments and a lot
of courage to face so much noise and crowds. Just how much we were actually
expecting, was hard to tell since a lot of things are so normal to us that we
don’t even notice them anymore.
We knew
the greyhounds from the adoption agency all came from Spain, where most of them
were used for hunting. In comparison to the U.S., where most hounds have a
relatively quiet and friendly “professional” life at the racing track, we
were pretty sure our greyhound would be traumatized in some way or another.
Coming from Spain, it would also be likely he or she would never have lived in a
house before, let alone lived in a big city!
So when
we made our choice for a black, handsome 3-year old male, we weren’t sure what
we would get. No meets-and-greets here, just straight from Spain into our home.
We only saw pictures of him, with a brief description of his character. Besides
his beautiful face and eyes, the words that made us choose him were “very
curious”. We hoped that being curious would help him quickly get adjusted to
city life.
Fast
forward to a few months later. Our greyhound Vasco is now an official citizen of
the beautiful city of Amsterdam. He struts the sidewalks in his flashy collar
and harness from the newest collection, and loves to windowshop and flirt with
the ladies. He is a regular at the local pet shops, and knows how to work the
room. Every time he gets away with the most cookies of all the doggy customers
there! He knows how to charm people and gets attention (and sometimes a snack)
from strangers on the street every day. He doesn’t shy away from the
occasional train ride, where he just stares out the window waiting to be admired
by the other passengers. He loves visiting the local market, where lots of
sniffing needs to be done, and knows how to whine when he feels we’re taking
too much time buying stuff. He is a true city-guy nowadays, and just remember
where he came from! He amazes us every day with his quick learning skills, and
his ability to take on new things as they come. He has left a lot behind, such
as running free on the hills of Spain and living by his own rules for a long
time, but he has gained a lot as well. A lot of people told us it is cruel to
have a greyhound in an apartment with only the city streets, parks and the
riverbanks to walk him, but it’s pretty obvious that Vasco would choose to be
“out on the town” over his horrible past in Spain any day. Besides, he knows
a good thing when he sees it. That’s what you get you know, living in a city
like this, as a curious hound. Life’s greyt!
C.R.
Leeuwenkamp
August
2002